A Season For Family

“I didn’t say I was okay with it, but I can’t help the way I’m hardwired,” he insisted.

“Sorry, but I don’t accept that excuse from you any more than I buy it from Amos. We may be predisposed to certain behaviors, but God gave us free will for a purpose. Every moment we’re awake presents a new choice with different consequences. The pessimist’s life is bound by doubt and doing without. James says we have not because we ask not. When we reach out to God with unselfish motives, He listens.”

“You sound like my mother. She’s always quoting the Bible.”

“Then I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It’s a waste of time for her and it will be for you, too.” He pushed the words through clamped teeth. “The day my folks moved to a retirement community was the day I was freed from their efforts to give me religion.”

He lowered his eyes and his head, took up a pen and began scribbling answers on the questionnaire. The finality in Heath’s words was like a blanket smothering the potential for fire in his spirit. Olivia’s heart was sad for him.

Her own sainted mother had lost the battle with diabetes in her thirties. But in the fourteen precious years they’d had together Anne Wyatt faithfully discipled her only child, as if knowing Olivia would be alone one day, needing the Truth as her anchor.

And here this foolish man sat complaining about his mother’s desire to give him a spiritual upbringing. Well, maybe he’d escaped the efforts of his parents, but for a short while anyway he’d be seated at Table of Hope where the glass was perpetually full because the Holy Spirit was always present.

Olivia watched him pressing pen to paper, probably giving as little information as possible. She’d check his answers first thing in the morning. As he wrote, she silently prayed for her personal witness to somehow have an impact on his heart. Heath hungered in a way that resonated more profoundly than a desperate client’s need for food.

“Hand the clipboard to Velma when you’re finished and she’ll assign you to a bunk in the men’s dorm and give you a welcome kit. That should get you through the night, and then we’ll cover the rest in the morning.”

Heath could tell from the determined set of Olivia’s jaw that he’d just become her new cause. Good. That meant she’d stay close to him. She’d learn soon enough he was a lost cause, but that was her business. His business was to dig deep beneath the surface of this place and its owner until the core was exposed.

“So, that’s it for tonight?” He tapped the pen against the metal clip on the board. He hadn’t made much progress so far. “I thought you wanted to review my form?”

She cupped her right hand behind her neck, squeezing as she tipped her face forward. “That was my plan until my head started to throb a couple of minutes ago.”

“I have that effect on people.”

She raised her face, a tired smile in her eyes.

“You get partial credit, but mostly I suspect the barometric pressure is dropping along with the temperature. I’m gonna call it a night, go upstairs and settle down with my favorite old quilt.”

“Should I slip this under your door when I’m done?”

“Thanks for offering, but there’s a locked stairwell between my apartment and the first floor of the shelter. A male resident always works the back exit and he keeps an eye on my entrance, too.”

“It’s smart you take precautions. A woman alone in this world needs to guard herself constantly.”

“I volunteered and studied missions for years while I planned Table of Hope and I gave a lot of thought to my personal space. So don’t worry about me.” She locked her desk drawer and pushed out of her chair. “Get a good night’s sleep because we have a busy day tomorrow.”

She disappeared around the wall of the cubicle, then several seconds later poked her head back into view. “And I look forward to reading about your family so don’t scrimp on the answers.”

With Olivia out of sight and Heath alone behind the small desk, he smacked his palm against his forehead.

What on earth made me mention my parents? Now I have to make something up about them.

Or did he? This could be a golden opportunity to test the waters, discover how it felt to be himself instead of some version he concocted as he went along. He pondered it for a moment. Nope, he shook his head. Not a good idea to start unearthing the truth when a lie worked perfectly well.

Heath’s shoulders slumped lower as he accepted how easily fabricating a background came to him, along with each assignment. It seemed the obvious way to protect his real family history. He was the only child of adoptive parents, but he had two natural sisters out there who wanted their brother to be part of their lives. Considering it seriously had always been too risky. And how would he deal with it if his sisters turned out to be dominated and abused like their birth mother? Or worse, what if they were single-minded, Bible-verse-quoting women like the one who had just lectured him about his pessimistic attitude?

“Lord, I sure hope my sisters fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes,” Heath muttered.

“You need somethin’ over there, sugar cookie?” Velma called across the panel.

“Sorry,” he answered. “Just thinking out loud.”

Hearing folks praying tonight must have dredged up that old habit of talking to God. What was it Olivia had said? We have not because we ask not. Heath had stopped asking for stuff a long time ago. It occurred to him that the comment Velma just overheard kinda resembled a prayer.

If God’s likely to grant me a prayer request I should probably spend it on something of value, namely a good-paying job in Silicon Valley that lets me create software instead of lies.

Enough time wasted on introspection.

He was here to study Olivia Wyatt like the key to a final exam. He needed answers hidden somewhere in this building. They had to be uncovered before more college kids died. And before Heath could get on with his new life.

Chapter Five

Just after 11:00 p.m. Heath figured out that a homeless shelter never completely goes to sleep for the night. Sure, the bunks were heavy with snoring figures and the lights were out in dorms and hallways. But the muted sounds of conversation, television, flushing, coughing and even someone softly singing continued to flow.

He wandered the halls, poking around in the few spaces that remained unlocked or unguarded. Heath was restless to search in earnest for clues leading to drug activity. Working on his own in a place that was perpetually active had him rethinking how long he might have to invest in this case.

At the front and back entrances, night shift residents sipped coffee and read, looking up each time he happened past.

“You need something?” The young man who’d introduced himself as Nick paused over what appeared to be a textbook. He was seated at a folding table beside two doorways; one was clearly marked with an EXIT sign and the other, Heath assumed, led to the upstairs apartment.

“No, just antsy, I guess.”

“First night at this shelter?”

“First night in any shelter,” Heath admitted. “I’m here for community service. I guess I’ll get used to it in a day or two.”

Nick tucked a folded sheet of paper between the pages and closed his book. He motioned for Heath to take the other chair.

“I’ve been in and out of places like this for nearly two years,” Nick shared. “I’m still not used to it. So don’t be surprised if it never feels like home.”

The kid was well-spoken. Heath pointed toward the thick volume. “You a student?”

“Only for a little longer.” Nick grinned and nodded. “I was almost finished with technical school when I lost my job and apartment. I had to drop out, figured that was the end of my education. But since Table of Hope took me in I’ve been able to catch up. In a couple more months I’ll graduate, be qualified for work and get back on my feet again. I just need to put some money in the bank.”

“Your folks must be proud of you for finding a way to get back on track.” Heath returned the young man’s smile.

Shaggy hair fell across Nick’s brow when he shook his head. “They don’t even know where I am. I messed up too often to go home again.”

Heath could understand not wanting to feed at the family trough, but given the choice between shelter and pride he’d take the former. “So, let me get this straight. You chose being homeless over being humble?”

Nick took a sip from a smiley face mug as though he needed a moment to consider his response. “You ever been on the street?” he finally asked.

“Not in the way you mean,” Heath admitted.

“It’s more humbling than you can imagine. You never get past the shame of asking a stranger for a handout. You’ve seen those WILL WORK FOR FOOD signs, right?”